*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 3, Issue 26 Sept. 13, 1995 An electronically distributed digest for discussions of the issues of concern to mathematicians at the beginning of their careers. Please direct submissions and questions to Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org , editor for the month of September. Next issue: Wednesday, 20 September. July/August Editor: Kevin Madigan madkev@aol.com September Editor: Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org To subscribe: Contact Charles Yeomans at cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Back issues and other information are available via anonymous FTP to ftp.ms.uky.edu, in pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list. Or connect to the YMN homepage on the WWW, the URL: http://math34.gatech.edu:8080/YMN/ymn.html The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the administrative board or membership of the Young Mathematicians' Network. The editorial policy of this newsletter is to encourage discussion of issues, and facilitate the dissemination of information, relevant to the concerns of young mathematicians. Table of Contents Item # Title ------ ----- 1 Editor's notes 2 Employment survey 3 Suggested schedule (part 1) 4 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's notes: Now that the new academic year has begun, we resume our weekly schedule. Our best wishes go out to you for a rewarding and successful year. In our first item this issue, Ben Lotto calls your attention to a discussion in September's Notices of McClure's follow-up employment survey. Also in this issue, let me point out Allyn Jackson's article on the NRC report on graduate education and Jean Taylor's article "What's happening in Congress and what can we do about it". Mark Winstead contributes our second item in which he offers more suggestions for what grads on the market should be doing and when they should be doing it. Emil Volcheck _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 Employment survey Submitted by Ben Lotto I'd like to make the readers of CYM aware that there is an item in the current Notices (September 1995) that may be of interest. John Polking (at Rice) and I each wrote a short piece indicating our reaction to the follow-up employment survey of 1990-91 PhDs that was recently done by the AMS and analyzed by Donald McClure in the (I think) July Notices. Comments are welcome and should be e-mailed to me at BeLotto@vassar.edu. _______________________________________________________________ Item #3 Suggested Schedule (part 1) Submitted by Mark W Winstead mwwinst@pic.net Dallas, TX The Suggested Schedule for mathematics PhDs early in career: First, a letter I received in comment to the preview installment, where I covered August/early September- Hi, I just read your article in YMN about seeking a job in mathematics. One of your first items suggests "knowing yourself" and determining exactly what type of position you might want to seek. To this end, I think you might include the information that the Mathematical Association of America distributes Career Information for the Conference Board on Mathematical Sciences. Andrew Sterrett has been publishing a "Mathematician of the Month" pamphlet, where details are given of the mathematical activities of actual people in jobs requiring a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree. Many of the examples involve those who are in jobs that are not called "mathematical" and yet involve much mathemaics. I believe copies of these can be obtained from MAA headquarters in Washington, DC at no cost. DTH -- Deborah Tepper Haimo Indeed, these can be received from the MAA HQs, but I believe that only the first copy is free; they do charge for multiple copies (I ordered multiple copies to hand out to my students considering becoming a math major). On this subject, I seem to recall that the Association for Women in Mathematics distributes a pamphlet profiling women employed in industry who hold mathematics degrees. Their headquarters at the University of Maryland, College Park should be able to help you. This is the first installment (a "zeroth" installment appeared in this newsletter last month) of a suggested schedule of action for job seekers looking for positions to start following the current academic year. I will not claim it to be complete, and some will disagree with some of my choices of timing of certain events. And no one can make a schedule that will guarantee you a position if you follow it. I would like you to consider it a starting point for getting yourself organized. Additionally, not all items mentioned are appropriate for everyone. I would like feed back on the schedule throughout the year, and perhaps next spring I will revise it and prepare a Tex version of it for distribution through either one of the professional societies or the Joint Committee on Employment Opportunities (on which I "sit"). What follows makes the assumption that you acted on the suggestions in the preview version. I will first list those items that you should do at least once each month for the next several months, broken down by the month you should start. I follow this with items that should be done periodically but not necessarily monthly. Finally, I will give the monthly breakdown I have come up with, based on experience and the numerous conversations and correspondence I have had since cofounding YMN. DO AT LEAST ONCE PER MONTH OR CONSTANTLY Always: -Be polite and courteous. -Be clear and concise. -Be friendly. -Be prepared. Never: -Burn bridges. Starting in September: -Check the ads. -Talk within your network about potential positions at various places, and what they are/would be looking for in a successful applicant. -Check on deadlines for submissions for talks at various conferneces. -Follow up on any submissions for talks that haven't been acted upon by the organizers. -Check FEDWORLD (see preview) -Check for articles on job hunting in the NOTICES, FOCUS, AWM Newsletter, the Employment Information in Mathematical Sciences, SIAM Newsletter, and this newsletter. -Continue work on dissertation. Starting in October or even sooner -Apply for federal and industry jobs. Many require security clearances that take time to process. Keep in mind that many private employers will archive or trash resumes over a certain age (often as young as 30 days old), so reapply occasionally. Starting in (late) November -Apply. -Update application materials as you receive/solicite feedback on them. Starting in December -Follow up on applications that you have submitted. Check that all materials were received. -Add and subtract from your list of places to apply. -Review graduation requirements for your department, making sure you are on schedule to meet them. REGULARLY, BUT NOT NECESSARILY MONTHLY -Check on your submitted papers. SEPTEMBER: -Read Annalisa Crannell's "Applying for Jobs: Advice from the Front" (Originally appeared in July/August 1992 issue of the NOTICES, reprinted in EIMS January 1995 Issue 136) for instructions on compiling a folder to call "Bragging". -For that matter, read everything on applying that you can get your hands on. -Complete the NSF application package, for the practice and to help yourself organize and prepare. Submit it if appropriate. -Make first drafts of generic resumes, cover letters, teaching statements, research summaries/plans, vitaes, etc. -Late in the month, ask for letters of recommendation. -Make preliminary lists of schools and/or companies that you wish to apply to. Worry about if that they actually have positions later. Keep this list in mind as you network, and search out similar places of employment. -Mail out preprints and reprints to people in your speciality. In your cover letter, "subtly" mention that you are on the job market. -Prepare application materials for government positions. -Download the AMS cover sheet from e-math. -Make sure you have access to FOCUS and the AWM newsletter (men, it is the Association FOR Women in Mathematics, so unless you are opposed to women in mathematics ...). OCTOBER: -Participating at the Employment Registry in Orlando? Get a copy of last year's list of participating schools/employers. Watch the ads for mentions of participation in 1996. Make a note to apply early to these schools (if and only if you are interested and qualified) and mention that you will be in Orlando. -While you are at it, make a note to mention in your cover letters your participation in any conference or meeting. -Start securing and conducting informational interviews (see Stanley J. Benkoski's "Preparing for a Job in Nonacademics" October 1994 EIMS). -Set a deadline for sending out your first academic applications. Inform those writing your letters of recommendation of the date. -By the end of the month, finalize generic versions of all your application materials, and start some applications for some specific academic employers. As you do this, start scratching off schools from your list if you do not look like a serious candidate^1 (^1, see footnotes) -Register for meetings, if applicable. Locate roommates to cut expenses. NOVEMBER(a short list, but lots of work): -Deadlines are coming, time to get applications to schools if you are going to conferences or meetings over the winter break or shortly after it. Apply, apply, apply, and don't spend too little time on each application. Customize all applications to the employer. -Let me pause here to mention a timing question. The advantage of applying early comes when the department looks at the early birds, makes a list of 20 top candidates and judges later application by them. However, if the deadline is in March and it is now November, you risk them assuming in March that you have a job already, and not bother checking (initial applicant screening is often deselection, i.e. eliminating candidates). Your best bet is to get input from someone at the school. Network! DECEMBER: -With finals/break/start of semesters, most academic applications received between mid-December and mid-January will be sorted then sit. Take a break from academic applying. -Almost contradictory, this is a good time to apply in industry. Traditionally fewer applications are received around the holidays, so those that are received get more attention. Additionally, many industrial employers have fewer deadlines this time of the year, so industrial mathematicians and managers may have more time to talk to you on the phone. Do some phone information interviews. -Prepare, especially after finals/break starts. Prepare talks, prepare for interviews (don't let a phone interview surprise you!), prepare! -Concentrate on gettings some work done on papers/dissertation. JANUARY: -Orlando! Prepare (that word again). Watch for tips in this newsletter, and check back issues for previous years' tips. Look me up, I will be there, maybe around an E-Systems booth^2. -Don't forget to attend the big annual AWM mixer, a great time to socialize with some powerful people who will freely give advice and tips before/after/without a few drinks. Just don't try to get specific tips about getting a job at their school or commenting on your vitae. It is a party, after all. -Write thank you notes following Orlando. Make time on the plane trip back to write. -Follow up on the applications. As much as you can, get feedback on your applications. -Improve your generic application materials, apply to more places, customizing to each of them. -Pick a topic for undergraduate colloquium talks. John Allen Paulos' *A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper* might give you some entertaining ideas. -Prepare a fall back position. Think about what you will do if you don't get a job. Will you delay graduation? Will your department give you a one year position? Is there anywhere (e.g. your undergraduate alma mater) that would give you a one year position? Is there anywhere that might give you a course or two to teach, and you could live cheaply there (with a relative, for example)? Make a plan for the worst. FEBRUARY/MARCH From this point on, the schedule will vary greatly among you. Some will be getting interviews in February and offers in March. Others won't get interviews until March or April or even May or the summer, while some will not get any interviews. -Prepare all talks. (February/late January) -Interview. Don't forget thank you notes. -Network. Get feedback on your applications, and apply the knowledge gained. -Apply. -Negotiate offers, if applicable. -Accept offer, if applicable and you like the offer. -If you accept an offer, politely inform all employers you applied to that you are withdrawing your candidacy. -Reapply to your favorite industrial employers. -Don't forget that dissertation or those papers. APRIL/MAY -Continue monthly activities, including applying, but start emphasizing short term positions. Shift your academic networking emphasis to finding a visiting position. -Plan your attendance at summer conferences. Plan talks. -See February/March. MAY/JUNE If you still need this list now, sorry. There is still hope, however. Some have received tenure track offers this late. -Attend as many appropriate conferences and meetings as you can, and don't hold back in letting people know you need a job for the fall. -NETWORK. -Many schools that you applied to will have advertised for possible visiting positions. Inform them of your continuing availability. -Review that fall back plan you made in January. Update it. JULY/AUGUST It is not unusual to get offers this late, but they are almost never tenure track offers. -Check again with as many people and schools as you can. At this time of the year, many schools will be getting numbers for fall enrollment and will discover themselves short handed. You might be able to get a one year position. -Check again with schools in areas where you can live cheaply. Those schools might be able to offer you a course or two. SEPTEMBER If you haven't been able to get a job at this point, repeat the May/June/ July/August schedule for the fall and hope for a position for the spring. At the same time, start applying for the next fall. Truthfully, if you haven't gotten a position at this point, you might should be putting your efforts to finding a job outside academics. I hope you developed some skills, since positions offered to mathematical PhDs with no computer programming skills, no significant non-academic experience, and no serious non-mathematical education are almost non-existent, if not non-existent. Footnotes: 1. Let me offer some scenarios to you. A. You do not work in the areas of research strength of the University of Virginia, and are not in an area of research that UVa wishes to build. Or you are in an area that UVa wishes to build, but you know no one in Charlottesville, have never been to Virginia, do not like any of the recreational options available in Charlottesville. Why do you think they should consider you? B. You have never lived in the South, always attended big research- oriented universities, and aren't particularly religious. Why would Abilene (TX) Christian University, a teaching oriented church of Christ affiliated four year college, think you are serious about your candidacy? Or you have always lived in the South, why would liberal arts schools in Minnesota consider you for a tenure track position? C. You are an Ivy League graduate and you have completed a NSF postdoc. Why should you expect four year schools with 12 hour teaching loads to take you seriously? D. You are in California, and interviews would be conducted in South Carolina. You might be able to do the job, but you are not the perfect match to the advertisement. Do you think you will get an interview if they have to purchase an airline ticket for you? On and on I could go. Before you write a cover letter for an application for a school, consider how you can convince them you are a serious candidate. With every school receiving hundreds of applications for every advertised position, you will need to look like you are probably a match to their advertisement, their faculty, their student body and their community. Hiring committees do not have the time or the resources to consider individuals that might not be happy at their school and in their town. And replacing mismatched hires costs them money, and maybe even positions. 2. At my suggestion, the departing Garland Division Software Department's staffing coordinator is recommending that E-Systems Garland Division have a booth in the exhibit hall for the purpose of informing faculty about job opportunities at the Garland Division for their students. I will follow up with this through the new staffing coordinator. Mark W Winstead Dallas, TX mwwinst@pic.net _______________________________________________________________ Item #10 Charles Yeomans cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Mark Winstead mwwinst@pic.net Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu Vic Perera vicum@math.ohio-state.edu Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu Kevin Madigan madkev@aol.com Leigh Lunsford lunsford@math.uah.edu Steve Kennedy skennedy@mathcs.carleton.edu Matt Hudelson hudelson@math.wsu.edu Silvia Heubach silvi@cinenet.net Greg Dresden dresden@fireant.ma.utexas.edu Bob Dobrow bdobrow@cs-sun1.nemostate.edu Lyle Cochran lcochran@fresno.edu Kevin Charlwood charlwk@snoopy.tblc.lib.fl.us Wendy Brunzie brunzie@mathfs.math.montana.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@gvsu.edu _______________________________________________________________ End of Journal -- Next week: The Discussion Continues